Baba Jaga, a lost childrens story from my youth
Gary Lee Stonum
David Perlich wrote:
>
> I recall hearing, and reading, a story about a witch who lived
> is a thatched cottage which stood atop chicken legs.
> No. I'm not making this up.
> For some reason, I have a suspicion this story might be part
> of Ukranian folklore.There are lots of English versions of this, since it is understandable
a favorite of illustrators. I seem to recall the title and the witch's
name more often spelled Baba Yaga.
Gary Stonum
David Perlich
is a thatched cottage which stood atop chicken legs.
No. I'm not making this up.
For some reason, I have a suspicion this story might be part
of Ukranian folklore.
books which contains stories about a witch who I seem to recall was
named Baba Jaga.
If you have ever heard of this book, or just of the story,
could you drop me a line, and let me know. I would love to rediscover
these books. They really gave me a fright as a child.
David Perlich
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Mel Wilson
per...@main.lis.ab.ca (David Perlich) wrote:
> I recall hearing, and reading, a story about a witch who lived
>is a thatched cottage which stood atop chicken legs.
> No. I'm not making this up.
> For some reason, I have a suspicion this story might be part
>of Ukranian folklore.
> I would love hear that the story is real, and if anyone knows of
>books which contains stories about a witch who I seem to recall was
>named Baba Jaga.
> If you have ever heard of this book, or just of the story,
>could you drop me a line, and let me know. I would love to rediscover
>these books. They really gave me a fright as a child.
Way back when, these stories were among the best things printed in
the childrens' magazine "Jack and Jill". So far back though, that I
can't remember much that Baba Yaga did, besides travelling around in a
large flying mortar. The house was burglar-proof because it stood up
whenever she was away. J&J presented the stories as "Russian", so I
suppose that everybody out that way had heard them.
Regards. Mel.
davemarc
>per...@main.lis.ab.ca (David Perlich) wrote:
>> I recall hearing, and reading, a story about a witch who lived
>>is a thatched cottage which stood atop chicken legs.
>> No. I'm not making this up.
>> For some reason, I have a suspicion this story might be part
>>of Ukranian folklore.
>> I would love hear that the story is real, and if anyone knows of
>>books which contains stories about a witch who I seem to recall was
>>named Baba Jaga.
>> If you have ever heard of this book, or just of the story,
>>could you drop me a line, and let me know. I would love to rediscover
>>these books. They really gave me a fright as a child.
>>
>>
>I've heard of it...usually spelled Baba Yaga, if I remember correctly.
>Also, the penultimate movement of Mussorgsky's *Pictures at an
>Exhibition* sometimes goes by that name (or something like "The Hut on
>the Chicken Legs"). In fact, the liner notes to one of my recordings of
>this work state: "The witch Baba-yaga is depicted in THE HUT ON
>CHICKEN'S LEGS...."
>
And now I seem to recall seeing a new illustrated edition of the story
available in bookstores. Definitely give it a look!
davemarc
Clifford O. Thompson
|> I recall hearing, and reading, a story about a witch who lived
|> is a thatched cottage which stood atop chicken legs.
|> No. I'm not making this up.
|> For some reason, I have a suspicion this story might be part
|> of Ukranian folklore.
|> I would love hear that the story is real, and if anyone knows of
|> books which contains stories about a witch who I seem to recall was
|> named Baba Jaga.
|> If you have ever heard of this book, or just of the story,
|> could you drop me a line, and let me know. I would love to rediscover
|> these books. They really gave me a fright as a child.
|>
|> per...@main.lis.ab.ca
|>
|> Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
I've always seen it spelt phonetically as Baba Yaga. She lives in a
hut that stands on chicken legs, flys through the sky on a mortar and
pestle (sometimes in a kettle) and eats children. She's from Russian
folklore, possible general throughout Eastern Europe. I first ran across
her in an old book of Russian Children's Stories called "Skazki,"
published
some time in the twenties or thirties. Beautiful illustrations, some
in full color, others in black and gold, still a treasured possesion on
my bookshelf. This was also my first encounter with the stories of the
Firebird, Ruslan and Ludmillia, as well as Kostchei the Deathless.
So, you should be able to find Baba Yaga with little difficulty. The one
story involving her that I know for certain is still in print is the
trade paperback edition of "The Books of Magic," by Neil Gaiman, where
she makes a cameo, along with a character who looks like Louise Brooks.
Available at your local comic book shop. A bookshop with a good
children's
section should yield results as well.
Also, I'm pretty sure that "The Hut on Chicken Legs" from Mussorgsky's
"Pictures at an Exhibition" is a reference to Baba Yaga as well.
Good luck!
Cliff
Mel Wilson
be...@gral.attel.com (belka real) wrote:
>Along with often hapless flying dragon Zmei Gorynych and terrible
>but usually outsmarted evil Kaschei Bessmertnyi (Kaschei Deathless),
So this is real too! When James Branch Cabell put Kaschei into some
book of his (Jurgen, maybe?) he put in the only element I liked.
Regards. Mel.
belka real
: In article <4hq9lt$n...@news1.panix.com> davemarc <dave...@panix.com> writes:
: per...@main.lis.ab.ca (David Perlich) wrote:
: > I recall hearing, and reading, a story about a witch who lived
: >is a thatched cottage which stood atop chicken legs.
: > No. I'm not making this up.
: > For some reason, I have a suspicion this story might be part
: >of Ukranian folklore.
as well as of Russian, Polish, Chech, etc.
: > I would love hear that the story is real, and if anyone knows of
: >books which contains stories about a witch who I seem to recall was
: >named Baba Jaga.
Baba Yaga frequently appears in Russian folk tales.
: > If you have ever heard of this book, or just of the story,
: >could you drop me a line, and let me know. I would love to rediscover
: >these books. They really gave me a fright as a child.
: >
: > per...@main.lis.ab.ca
: >
: I've heard of it...usually spelled Baba Yaga, if I remember correctly.
: Also, the penultimate movement of Mussorgsky's *Pictures at an
: Exhibition* sometimes goes by that name (or something like "The Hut on
: the Chicken Legs"). In fact, the liner notes to one of my recordings of
: this work state: "The witch Baba-yaga is depicted in THE HUT ON
: CHICKEN'S LEGS...."
:
: Baba Yaga
: Kurnaya Noga
Kur'ya Noga. Baba Yaga lives in the hut on hens legs - "izbushka
na kur'ih nozhkah".
: is all I remember of the Russian rhyme on the subject. The second
: line means "crooked legs".
Hens leg. They are definitely crooked in every illustration
I seem to remember, though.
: The impression I got from "Monday begins on Saturday" by the
: Strugatski brothers is that Baba Yaga is a legend of the Russian
: North.
Along with often hapless flying dragon Zmei Gorynych and terrible
but usually outsmarted evil Kaschei Bessmertnyi (Kaschei Deathless),
Baba Yaga is one of the popular personages, representing
shades of evil in Russian folklore tales. In the long run,
Baba Yaga usually helps the hero (who more often than not is Ivan Durak
- Ivan the Fool) to obtain requested service from her son,
Zmei Gorynych, or find the way to the castle of Kaschei or
whatever else is hero's wish.
Btw, do you (or anyone) know anything in the English language
fantasy/SF comparable and in the same spirit as Strugatski's MONDAY.
: from the Britannica
: Baba-Yaga
: also called BABA-JAGA, in Russian folklore, an ogress who
: steals, cooks, and eats her victims, usually children. A
: guardian of the fountains of the water of life, she lives
: with two or three sisters (all known as Baba-Yaga) in a
: forest hut which spins continually on birds' legs; her fence
: is topped with human skulls. Baba-Yaga can ride through the
: air--in an iron kettle or in a mortar that she drives with a
: pestle--creating tempests as she goes. She often accompanies
: Death on his travels, devouring newly released souls.
Britannica is certainly respected, but I don't think that anyone
who grew with Baba Yaga, will agree with this one-sided over-blackened
image. This characterization is more appropriate for an evil
force in German tales. Russian ones are as a rule much lighter
and humorful. Particularly, Baba Yaga may think, talk, promise
to cook a child or a hero, prepare utensils, but I don't remember
any tale where she wouldn't be either outsmarted and caught somehow
or change her mind. More often she'll hide the hero to save
hime before arrival of Zmey Gorynych and later cheat Zmey to
disclose precise piece of information hero needs.
: --
: John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305
: *
: He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
: http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/
Ted Samsel
:
: Strugatski brothers is that Baba Yaga is a legend of the Russian
: North.
:
: Baba-Yaga
: also called BABA-JAGA, in Russian folklore, an ogress who
: steals, cooks, and eats her victims, usually children. A
: guardian of the fountains of the water of life, she lives
: with two or three sisters (all known as Baba-Yaga) in a
: forest hut which spins continually on birds' legs; her fence
: is topped with human skulls. Baba-Yaga can ride through the
: air--in an iron kettle or in a mortar that she drives with a
: pestle--creating tempests as she goes. She often accompanies
: Death on his travels, devouring newly released souls.
Back in the '50s, JACK AND JILL magazine often had stories about
Baba Yaga and the chicked-footed house. Back when I was a young'un.
--
Ted Samsel....tejas@infi.net *1996* Year of the Accordion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Home of the brave, land of the free,
I don't want to be mistreated by no bourgoisie."
Huddie Ledbetter
J Lanier
> Way back when, these stories were among the best things printed in
>the childrens' magazine "Jack and Jill". So far back though, that I
>can't remember much that Baba Yaga did, besides travelling around in a
>large flying mortar. The house was burglar-proof because it stood up
>whenever she was away. J&J presented the stories as "Russian", so I
>suppose that everybody out that way had heard them.
That's where I remember them from. I can still see the illustrations in
my head, and the idea of her living in a hut that sat atop chicken legs
was quite fascinating to me as a child.
Jill
Lukasz Szyrmer
tellings of the Hansel & Gretel fairy tale that I remember from my
youth.
The image of the hut on chicken legs is also one that I remember from
childrens books.
Luke Szyrmer
Dmitry Casperovitch
: John McCarthy (j...@Steam.stanford.edu) wrote:
: :
: : Baba Yaga
: : Kurnaya Noga
:
: Kurya Noga
Oh, we confused it all... Now I remembered. "Kurya Noga" really
means "chicken leg" but is referred to the hut.
Baba Yaga's nickname is "Kostyanaya Noga" which mean
"leg made from bones".
Dmitry
belka real
: What a coincidence --- I was reminiscing about Baba Yaga just last week! A
: friend and I were arguing about whether the hut revolved/rotated or not.
: Anyone remember?
Sure it did. Ivan The Fool (or Prince Ivan, the Third Son, depending
on the fairy tale) every time requests the hut to rotate its back
to the forest, its front before him. Respectable Prof. will
happily recite this four line verse.
: I was really sucked up by these books when I was a kid.
They were genuinely kind. Baba Yaga - the kindest evil soul in the fairy tales.
She was definitely mean-spirited, though.
: Bharati
Dmitry Casperovitch
Kurya Noga
:
: is all I remember of the Russian rhyme on the subject. The second
: line means "crooked legs".
No, it means "chicken leg".
:
: The impression I got from "Monday begins on Saturday" by the
: Strugatski brothers is that Baba Yaga is a legend of the Russian
: North.
Nothing particulary Northern, I think. Just Russian.
: A guardian of the fountains of the water of life,
Definitely no fountains. Sometimes there are "live water and
dead water" in Russian tales but it's never said where these come
from. Other times, there are "apples of youth". Yaga never is
a guardian but the source of information for hero.
: she lives
: with two or three sisters
Never heared about it.
: She often accompanies
: Death on his travels, devouring newly released souls.
Never heared also. Death is VERY rare character in Russian tales.
Dmitry
Wayne Hughes
I've put on my web page, under the URL http://morgan.botany.uga.edu/hut.htm
a couple of images of "The Hut on Fowl's Legs". This is a fantasy
sculpture that is explained on the page. Enjoy.
Baba Yaga was one of the more exotic fairy tales from my childhood
that tweaked my imagination. In addition to everything else I recall
that she used the pestle not only to steer the flying mortar, but
also to grind up the bones of captured children. Or is this just
a vicious rumor?
Wayne
--
Wayne Hughes | Keep your carbon dioxide fixed!!
Botany Dept | http://morgan.botany.uga.edu/wayne.htm
Univ Georgia | Keywords: botany, Arabidopsis, gay stuff, astronomy, ponds,
Athens,GA USA | bonsai, cats, dormancy, rural, seeds, juggling, books, movies.
Dmitry Casperovitch
: What a coincidence --- I was reminiscing about Baba Yaga just last week! A
: friend and I were arguing about whether the hut revolved/rotated or not.
Of cause it was!
Ivan the Tzarevich says to it: "Hut, hut, stand front
to me, back to forest" - and it does.
Dmitry
mjl...@alpha.ntu.ac.sg
>>: is a thatched cottage which stood atop chicken legs.
>
The Baba Yaga is one of the mythical characters ofRussian mythology. Any book
of Russian folktales will have a number about her.
Jorn Barger
I always wondered where "hut two three four" came from...
;^/
j
belka real
Hamilton catalog, now under a presumable superseducing supertitle
_SUPERSTORE_ and with a sentence of sexual exploits for every second
book blurb, redeems its existence by listing for a mere $11
a 600+ pp. English translation of the definitive collection
of Russian folktales gathered by Afanasiev in the last century,
including Emelya, Baba Yaga, Firebird, all kinds of Ivans the Fools,
Zmey, Kaschei, the Gray Wolf, &c
Not even a EH customer,
belka